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Friday, November 6, 2015

Canada concludes participation in largest NATO exercise since 2002

OTTAWA – Today, 1650 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen, and Special Operations Forces personnel, in Portugal, Spain, Italy, and at sea, completed the live exercise portion of JOINTEX 15.

JOINTEX is a biennial Canadian exercise and a keystone for Canadian Armed Forces posture and readiness activity aimed at enhancing operational mission preparedness. The live exercise (LIVEX) phase occurred between October 21 and November 6 in Western Europe. Activities leading up to the LIVEX included senior staff officer training during a Table Top Exercise in Ottawa, in January and February, and Combined Joint Inter-Agency Task Force Headquarters staff training during a Command Post Exercise in Meaford, Ont., in September and October.Quick Facts

For the LIVEX portion of JOINTEX 15 as part of NATO’s Trident Juncture 15, Canada has contributed a Canadian Multinational Task Force headquarters, a Canadian Army Brigade with multinational elements attached, four ships, one submarine, Canadian Special Forces elements and three CC-130 Hercules aircraft.

JOINTEX 15 provided an opportunity to create and exercise our ability to command Canadian and international forces in the most challenging international contingency operations, in a scale and scope rarely seen in recent history.

JOINTEX 15 demonstrated Canadian leadership and capability in headquarters, and in deployed formations, units, and elements which serve to strengthen Alliance integration and interoperability capabilities.

Develop, document, and institutionalize the Canadian Armed Forces Distributed Training and Simulation Capability.

The JOINTEX series serves to advance CAF mission preparedness by practicing Joint Combined and Integrated Expeditionary Full Spectrum Operations, developing concepts and procedures, and providing a focus for force development.

Quotes:

“The Canadian Armed Forces is considered to be one of the most responsive armed forces within the Alliance. As such, Canada has been a major contributor to NATO operations. Our participation in Exercise TRIDENT JUNCTURE 15 is another example of our commitment to supporting NATO by providing modern, deployable capabilities to allied missions and highly trained personnel.” General Jonathan Vance, Chief of the Defence Staff

“I am proud of the contribution our sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen have made to this historic training event. Thanks to their efforts in developing our interoperability, they are improving the Canadian Armed Forces’ ability to conduct successful joint and multinational operations in the future.” Lieutenant-General Steve Bowes, Commander Canadian Joint Operations Command